


Clean towels & Magic spells : a Bates Motel x AHS Coven fanfiction

by 7wnders



Category: American Horror Story: Coven, Bates Motel (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural (TV) Fusion, Drama, F/F, F/M, M/M, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-07 22:11:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20316820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/7wnders/pseuds/7wnders
Summary: Crossover fanfic Bates Motel X AHS Coven-AU where Norma Bates is a powerful witch who will do whatever it takes to keep her secrets and protect her family (This was supposed to be a normero fanfic at first but I got inspired to do something else)-This is the first fanfic I write, maybe the two universes don't really fit together but I really wanted two of my favorite characters to meet (Norma and Delia)(Unfinished story)disclaimer : i don't own any of these characters





	1. Welcome home

The sun shone through the light clouds covering the blue sky as Norma Bates ran her fingers through the gold curls that were resting on her head.

"Here we are Norman!" she says with obvious excitement in her gentle tone. The boy's eyes were still covered by his mother's soft hands so he couldn't see his surroundings. "You're gonna love it!" She continues while removing her hands and taking his to lead him towards the stairs.

Norma Louise Bates had led quite the complicated life, her childhood had been scary and painful, people treated her like crap and yet, here she was, still standing, with a beaming smile on her face as she showed Norman where they were going to have a fresh start. The house had an atmosphere she absolutely loved, it felt like home. The furniture was already there and almost everything was vintage, there was even a piano standing still in a corner. Playing piano sometimes brought painful memories from when she was a kid, but she didn't like to think about it and liked to enjoy the sway of her fingers on the tiles.

The both of them climbed upstairs and stood in the corridor.

Norman didn't look as convinced as his mother, who was jumping ang giggling like a child, he didn't want to start over, but apparently she didn't care about what he thought.

"Come on honey, it's all gonna be good, you'll see." She says while resting her back on the doorframe of her new bedroom. She pulled him in a soft embrace and combed her fingers through his hair. "Mother, you're a witch, can't you just cast a spell that will erase everything bad that's ever happened to us from our memories ?"

He whispered merely while closing his heavy lids. "I wish i could do that Norman." she sighed and let go of him. After a few minutes, she rested her hands on each side of her hips and looked around. "Okay, time to unpack, that'll take forever so get ready!" She says while clapping her hands.

After a weird night getting used to this house, Norma felt a little better in the morning, after a lot of thinking, she knew that she couldn't tell anyone she was a witch, she had trust issues and couldn't imagine herself telling someone her secret, nobody would even believe her. it was better with just her son knowing it.

She focused on getting breakfast done, she was planning on doing some housework today with Norman helping her. tomorrow would be his first day of high school and she was worried, he was very shy, but, really smart and Norma wondered if he was going to make any friends. After breakfast, mother and son decided to start cleaning efficiently.

Norman often asked himself why he didn't have any powers, his mom was a witch so why wasn't he a warlock ? He knew that she only used them if needed, she was afraid that if she used them too much, she would become dependent, that wasn't what she wanted.

She just wanted a calm and normal life for once. Norma discovered about her powers after she had married Sam Bates. She didn't really know how to use them so she couldn't properly defend herself when her abusive husband beat her and left her crying with red or purple marks on her fragile body.

She had learned how to control her powers in a short time after San had died, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of her and she could finally breathe. She spent an entire month in Robichaux's academy in New Orleans, she had found their website after googling "Do i have superpowers ?"

The trip to Louisiana had been worrying, she was leaving her son in a boarding school in Arizona and felt a little guilty. After the incident, she had explained the situation to him of course, she trusted him and felt like she could tell him anything.

He didn't actually believe her at first but after seeing her use her powers, he was astonished and surprised to see that his mother could move things with her mind. Telekinesis was the first thing she could achieve and felt rather proud, but when Norma met all of the other witches at the academy, she felt ridiculous for not knowing much about magic.

But the different pupils were nice to her and welcomed her warmly on her first day. With the help of the supreme Cordelia Goode and the other witches, she learned to control her powers and also many tricks and potions.

Cordelia and her had become really good friends during her time in Robichaux, they would talk and laugh about anything and it felt good to Norma to finally have someone to confide in.

She could never admit it to herself but she might have had a little crush on the supreme, there had been obvious attraction but both women were too stubborn to make a move.

Plus, she knew that Cordelia was probably into Misty Day, until she couldn't get back from hell. Norma had helped soothing Cordelia and mourned with her over the loss of this incredible witch, which helped them grow closer to one another.

At the end of the month, Norma had become a powerful witch, more powerful than she had ever imagined she would be and finally felt proud of herself.

It was time to see her son whom she had missed dearly, they would call each other of course, but it just wasn't the same. She couldn't wait to hug him and get him out of the boarding school she had paid with Sam's insurance money.


	2. Hatred

That encounter with that Keith Summers guy left Norma worried, he was probably just upset about leaving his property to the bank, but he was going to get over it eventually. Right ?

She turned around and made her way towards the door, trying to forget about what just happened.

Evening (Trigger Warning)

Norma was furious with her son, why was he making such a big deal out of her not wanting him to go study to the "library" in the evening with some girls she didn't even know ?

Sometimes he could be so petty and it annoyed the hell out of her. She was just going to let him be mad at her and tomorrow, everything would be alright and he would come to her and apologize for his actions. That's what he always did anyway, why would it change ?

A while after she decided to do some cleaning, Norma heard a noise from outside. Like something heavy had fallen down. The sound was muffled and she decided not to pay attention to it as she continued washing the dishes.

After a while, she heard a creaking noise right outside the door and started getting suspicious. "Norman ! Get downstairs I need to talk to you about something." She shouted, hoping her son would hear her although he was mad.

She walked to examine outside the window. After a few minutes, she walked back to the sink but then heard the sound of glass shattering and Norma quickly turned around to see what was going on and there he was, the man who was harassing her this morning, she saw him slowly move his hand to turn the knob of her kitchen door.

She let out shallow breaths and tried to think clearly but she just couldn't. Her mind was blank and she felt a dizziness take over her body as she watched Keith Summers' devious look directed towards her.

She grabbed the knife which was on the kitchen counter and screamed again. He was walking slowly, made his way through the kitchen and pushed the table aside strongly. She was now shaking, taking a step backwards but got stuck in the corner. She felt paralyzed and panicked, thinking about her next move.

She held out the knife in front of her. "Shit... What am I doing ?" Norma felt so stupid, Keith snatched the knife and sliced her hand with it.

She screamed in pain and tried to stand up. But he was quicker than her and got ahold of her feet and pulled it to drag her forward. She screamed, and screamed and her throat was hurting but most importantly, why wasn't Norman coming downstairs ?

Keith was now sitting on her and got duct tape to put on her mouth to stop her from screaming. He placed her on the kitchen table, Norma was trying to wriggle free, but miserably failing. To use her powers, she had to be focused and calm but how could she do that while being assaulted in her own home ? Her cheek was now resting on the cold table and she felt sweat dripping down her temples.

He pulled the handcuffs out of his pocket, slid them to her wrist and locked the cuff on one of the table legs so she couldn't get out of its strong grip.

She let out a hoarse cry while desperately clutching to the table. She had called out her son's name multiple times but he never came. Where the hell was he ? She felt her panties being ripped apart and the pain from the deep cut was making her wince while the man behind her was unzipping his pants, letting a low grunt that made her shiver.

She knew she could defend herself but she just couldn't think. She felt like everything had been erased from her memory. She had experienced rape so many times, whether it was her brother or Sam, John had never hurt her but he knew that their marriage had been loveless.

She was about to get sexually assaulted and she had to do something. As Keith slipped his foot between her legs, she closed her eyes and started controlling her breathing in order to be a little calmer, she gathered her strength and magic. She could do it. She had to.

Norma felt the heat of the man fade away as he crashed loudly on the floor. She did it, she had used her magic to stop this man from hurting her, but she had to act quickly to free herself. 

She suddenly heard a noise behind her, turned her head around and there he was. Norman, looking terrified.

He took a frying pan in the sink and ran towards the man who was still trying to stand up. Norman hit him in the head and Keith flopped back on the cold floor, letting a heavy sigh escape his lips while he winced in pain because of the impact, he closed his eyes, the headache becoming too painful. 

A/N : Sorry if this is pretty crappy, I was really afraid to post this tbh, I'm always self conscious about everything. I have written 22 chapters so far and I'll keep writing, I don't know if I'm gonna publish everything yet, guess we'll see. I'd also like to say that English isn't my first language so I apologize in advance if I make mistakes.


	3. Self defense ?

Norman helped his mother get out of the cuffs, she was so relieved but was still shaking because of the shock. They acted quickly and handcuffed Keith while he was still unconscious. There was a weird thing about Norman though, his face was unreadable and his look empty.

She was breathing heavily and tried to regain composure, the boy opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it. "Okay. Um, we should..." Norma muttered as she tried to think of what to do next.

Her son got out of the room and she went after him. "Where are you going ?" She shouted.

He opened the door of the house and went outside. She felt the chilly wind caress her skin as she heard a manly grunt. "Screw it." She thought.

She sighed and turned around to go to the kitchen, she saw Keith struggling to get back on his feet, the knife in his trembling hands. Hopefully, he was still cuffed to the table. She couldn't get close to him to take the knife out of his grip, he would probably hurt her.

"Give the knife to me, or I will call the police." She says confidently. The man in front of her started laughing loudly while she stared at him, a piercing look in her eyes.

She held out her hand and used her magic to snatch the knife from his hand without having to get close to the man, wounding his hand in the process. She was now holding the kitchen knife in her hand with a tight grip while Keith Summers' jaw dropped to the floor and looked at her, wondering how the hell she had made the damn knife fly in order to get it back.

Looking defiantly at the man, something in her shifted and she thought about where Norman had gone. Her smirk faded as she started worrying about her son.

She put back the knife on the kitchen counter while resting her hands on her hips, totally forgetting about the man who had literally broken into her home and disturbed her peace. He was sitting on the floor, still looking at her.

The look in his eyes changed and got replaced with fear. He didn't believe in supernatural things but what if he had been wrong ? "This is still my home, always will be."

He said through gritted teeth with a slurred speech. Norma had been staring blankly into the darkness outside and got pulled back to reality when Keith had spoken. She turned around and screamed "Shut up !", made her way to him so he was facing her. "You wanted it." he said with a smirk.

After hearing the words come out of his mouth, she got furious and made the knife go back to her right hand as she was still letting out shallow breaths. Her brows furrowed and rage filled her.

Keith looked at her, his eyes wide with surprise as she took a step forward to stab him, again and again. Blood was dripping down the floor, she let out a ragged scream she couldn't control and unleashed a beast inside of her she didn't even know existed.

She let his dead body flop back on the cold tiles of the kitchen floor, now soaked with his blood all over it.

She had been so mad that she just now realized and saw the mess she made all over the room. After a few minutes, her breathing returned to normal and she tried to think of what to do. But she had to find her son first. What had happened to him when she saw her getting attacked, why had he fled ? She had blood on her clothes, on her hands and on her face but it didn't really matter,

She had to find Norman before doing anything with the body. As she started exiting the kitchen, she heard the door creak open. "Mother ? Are you in there ?" The teenage boy sounded terrified as he made his way through the parlor.

"Thank god you're here, where the hell were you ? I was worried sick and you left me in here with this monster !" She shouted as she ran towards him to pull him in a tight embrace. "I don't know what happened, I don't remember a single thing. Actually I just remember walking on the side of the road but before that, it's just a haze. And who are you talking about ?" He says while his bottom lips was trembling. "It's okay, you're here now, but... You need to help me, I think I just killed someone". Norman quickly pulled away to look at her with an unreadable expression is his eyes.


	4. Help

They both stood there in the parlor, Norman was trying to understand why his mom had murdered someone. "He was about to rape me Norman !

Do you think I was just going to let him ?" She tried to explain while her son was looking at her with wide eyes. "Well did he ?" He asks in a calm tone. "No he didn't, but he could have !" She shouts, astonished by the boy's answer. "So you killed him ?

This was supposed to be our fresh start." "I know Norman, and I'm sorry, I truly am. Now please just help me clean up."

She says while letting her hands travel to cup his cheeks. Norman nodded and followed his mother into the kitchen. He gasped loudly when he saw Keith's lifeless body laying on the floor surrounded by a huge pool of blood.

"Okay, I know a spell that will make his body disappear, it'll be easier that way but we would still have to take care of the blood." Norma says, looking at Norman who still looked surprised. "We can do it."

She says while her gaze fell to the cadaver "Can we really though ?" The boy says, his voice shaking. "Of course we can, I'll be right back" "Where are you going ?" Norman turned around to see his mother reaching the stairs.

"I just need some books honey, don't touch anything, okay ?"

He nodded and stood still at the entrance of the kitchen where his mother had committed a crime.

She came back downstairs with two thick books in her hands. One of them was blue, the other one was black and nothing was written on both covers.

Norma put them on the table and opened the dark one to look for a page while Norman was just standing still, staring at his mother. "There ! Found it." She held the book and read the words written in Latin.

After making sure it was the right spell, she put the open book back on the table next to the other one. It was around midnight now, she just wanted to go to sleep at this point but this could not be avoided.

She kneeled on the floor, making sure not to touch any of the blood, and reached for the manuscript. "Norman, honey you can go now if you want, you need sleep, it's okay I can clean up on my own." She says, her back facing him.

"No, you asked me to help you and I will, tell me when you're done with the spell and I'll come back to clean." Norman says with nothing but softness in his voice.

Norma glanced behind her shoulder and gave her son a sad smile. "Okay, I will."

The teenage boy made his way into the living room and laid down on the couch, he closed his eyes and thought about what kind of trouble they got themselves in.

He knew that spells could usually take some time and a lot of concentration, he would let his mother do her thing and he would come back to help her, he would help her with anything. Anything.

Norma, in the kitchen memorized the spell in a short amount of time, it was pretty long but it had to work. She held her hands above the body, closed her eyelids and started focusing, she recited the spell.

After a few seconds, she could see everything in the room slightly shake, it was working. The spell was really powerful after all, she used all of her strength and magic to make it work.

After a few long minutes, he was gone. The cadaver was no longer in the room, the foul odor was still there though, and god, the blood, so much of it. "Norman, I'm done with the body ! You can help me clean the mess now."

She shouted after opening her eyes to examine the kitchen. Some plates in the shelves had been moved a little, probably because of the spell that had made everything shake. She was still kneeling and clumsily got back on her feet. She saw her son move slowly towards her, an uncomfortable silence filled the room as he tried to avoid her gaze.

"So what do we do now mom ?" He says, his gaze directed towards the floor. "I'll get the bleach." She says quickly, making her way to the bathroom, looking for the white bottle in the upper cupboard. Norma came back to see her son, a towel and a sponge in his hands.


	5. Keep your distance

After what felt like an eternity, they finally finished cleaning and could finally rest now, it had been a tough night for both of them, but especially for Norma, who had almost been raped and had to murder someone in order to protect herself.

The room reeked of bleach and it made it hard to breathe. Norma felt like she was suffocating so she got out of the kitchen and stood in the doorway, wiping her forehead.

She removed her latex gloves and saw Norman walk towards her, he looked really tired, it was around 1am and he was supposed to have school. "I'm going to go change mother, goodnight." He pecked her on the cheek and climbed the stairs in a hurry. "Goodnight Norman." She said, also going upstairs, following her son.

He went to his room and she went to hers, planning on getting out of these blood soaked clothes.

She stood in front of the mirror, examining herself, she had bag under her eyes and her blouse had blood on it, she had to wash, or maybe even burn these clothes. She wasn't planning on wearing them again anyway. She unzipped her skirt and got out of it, slipping on her pajama pants.

She stopped dead in her tracks. She thought about checking out the motel, she hadn't had a good look of it since they moved in and started wondering what the inside of the rooms looked like. She threw the pajama pants on her bed and slipped on blue jeans instead.

Norma quickly unbuttoned her blouse and replaced it with another one which was checkered and blue. She tied her hair in a messy bun and got out of her room, careful not to make any noise in her way out.

She was at the top of the stairs now. The air was warm although it was raining lightly so she didn't think she'd need any jacket.

Her house keys in hand, she got downstairs quickly and marched towards the office. She unlocked the door and got in. The room was dark, but she could still make out the bunch of keys hanging on the wooden plaque which was hammered on the wall.

She took the keys to room 5 and closed the door behind her. Once in front of the door to the fifth room, she examined it and saw a crack. God, there would be so much renovations to take care of, that would probably cost a lot of money.

She grabbed the key to the room out of her pocket and put it inside the lock. She turned the key and the door opened, making a creaking noise.

She switched on the light and saw a naked lightbulb which looked really old, the lighting wasn't bright but it would do, she really had to change everything, this place looked haunted and dirty, she wanted to make this motel beautiful and homely.

She examined the room and made a mental note to make sure to change the carpeting tomorrow.

She suddenly heard the crunch of gravel. Someone was parking.

The motel wasn't even opened yet. Norma sighed and got out of the room and left the door open. After getting out, she saw two policemen get out of the black and white SUV parked in front of the office. She didn't know what to expect from them, did they know about her murdering someone already ? Had Norman called the police ? Her thoughts were running wild, she tried to focus.

"Good evening gentlemen." She says while the men were holding their flashlights and examining their surroundings. "I was about to tell you we're not opened for business yet. But it doesn't look like you're looking for a room." She chuckled awkwardly. "I'm Norma Bates we moved in a few days ago." She let out a tight smile.

"No ma'am, not looking for a room. Deputy Zack Shelby, this is Sheriff Romero." The blonde haired man said.

As soon as the words were let out of his mouth, Norma started to feel dizzy. She could feel something but she couldn't really describe what it was. It felt like some sort of warning.

Sometimes, she had these kind of visions and she could see the future. Only a glimpse of it. It was very irregular and it happened in a heartbeat, just like that.

She knew Cordelia had them at some point too but she usually wouldn't talk about what she saw. It usually lasted a few seconds but she knew she could trust the premonitions.

What she felt when the deputy had spoken was.... weird ? Definitely some sort of a warning. She didn't understand. The man looked alright and he had a nice smile. Why would her vision tell her to stay away from Zack Shelby ?

Maybe she had been staring at him to intensely "Are you alright ?" The deputy frowned and reached out to touch her arm but she avoided it, stepping aside while letting out a strangled breath.

"Yeah I'm fine." Her gaze was on the floor now and she looked up to see the sheriff staring at her with a stern look. "What happened to your hand ?" Romero said, pointing Norma's cut.

"Shit." She thought. In the heat of the moment, she had totally forgot to take care of that wound. Nothing a good old spell couldn't solve. She let her right hand through her hair and it brought her enough time to make the wound disappear. 

"My hand ? What's wrong with my hand ?" She said, pretending to look surprised at the man's question. She held out her hand so he could see that there wasn't anything on it. Well at least there wasn't anything anymore.

Romero could've sworn there was a deep cut in her right hand. Was he okay ? Maybe he was hallucinating, it was probably it.

The day had been long and exhausting and his senses might have been betraying him. Sure, he had a couple of drinks but that usually didn't alter his vision, but he could sense something was wrong. He would eventually find out.

"We just wanted to make sure everything was alright here, we didn't know anybody had moved in yet." The sheriff said, looking quickly at his deputy who was making a worried face, he was probably still troubled by the fact that this woman had avoided his touch. His gaze focused on Norma now.

"Oh, that's kind of you. Yeah we're all fine. My son just went to bed, he was so tired poor thing." She continued, her eyes going back and forth to both men standing with authority in front of her. "You have a son ?" Romero shot back, interrupting her. "Yes, my son Norman. He's 17" she replied quickly, making sure to hide the slight annoyance in her voice, the sheriff sure was a piece of work and he didn't look friendly at all.

Still, she learned not to trust appearances and didn't let her first impression of this guy alter her opinion. Maybe he had a bad day and didn't feel like being polite, maybe he hated small talk, which was totally understandable. "Norma and Norman..." The sheriff blurred out, with a tight smile. "Yeah."

"That's... Unusual" He continued, chuckling slightly.

"Well, boys take their father's names all the time." She says while furrowing her brows. She took a moment to examine the sheriff. He was sure tall and he mostly looked really stoic, was his face paralyzed or something ?

After the policemen left, Norma felt so relieved. She really thought that her son had called them but immediately felt stupid about the absurdity of it. Of course he wouldn't betray her.


	6. Truth

After waking up at 9am, Norma had a horrible headache. She sat in her bed and looked at the clock. She had slept in. God, she must've been so tired last night.

Norman was probably already at school, she felt guilty for not making him breakfast, he had always loved her home cooked meals and she loved making them. That made her wonder if he only ate grilled toasts this morning, he would be starving until lunch.

She quickly got out of bed and slipped on her robe. When she was about to make her way to the bathroom, she heard insistent knocks on the door.

She sighed and turned around to climb down the stairs. "I'm coming, I'm coming." She says quickly before opening the door, only to see her oldest standing on the porch. "Hey mom." Dylan says with a wide smile.

Norma looked up and down her son, her right hand resting on the kitchen counter and her left one on her hip, she then let her gaze travel to the window, to see the bright light that the sun was letting.

"Dylan, why are you here." She said, trying to sound as gentle as possible. She did love her oldest, but every time she looked at him, it brought her such painful memories. She knew he wasn't to blame, but she just couldn't get close to him, even if she wanted to.

No, she had to stop thinking like that. Dylan was nothing like his father and she would find a way to have an actual relationship with him, he had to forgive her.

Norma knew it would take time and patience for that, but she was ready to wait. "That's what people do when they have no money, no job, no place to say. They go home." He said, keeping his eyes locked on his cup of coffee.

He looked up to her and continued "Normal mothers don't just move their home out of state and don't tell their own son." With a deadly glare. "Dylan, I'm sorry. I really am..." Norma said, her voice slightly shaking. She removed her left hand from her hip and sighed. It would definitely take time for him to forgive her.

She knew she hadn't been the best mom for the past few years, Dylan deserved so much better. "Yeah, whatever. You're out of cream." He blurred out, indifferent to Norma's apology.

"Dylan, I'm a witch." She said as he was trying to walk back to the living room.

He stopped dead in his tracks, turned around and let out a wide smile, looking at his mother with a playful look in his eyes. She looked at him, her expression unreadable : if she wanted a relationship with her son, there would be no more secrets between them.

Dylan started laughing but regained his composure after seeing Norma's face, which looked deadly serious. "Yeah right Norma, you have the power of annoying the shit out of people. Where's your broom and your black cat ?" He said, his voice full of sarcasm. "I'm out of here, see you tonight."

He continued, turning his back to her while making his way to the kitchen door to get out. Norma held out her hand and as Dylan was about to step out, the door slammed shut, letting out a loud noise. He quickly turned around, his eyes full of confusion mixed with surprised. "What the hell ! How'd you do that ?" Dylan's eyes darted around the room to see if there was any rope or switch that his mother could've used to play a prank on him. There was nothing.

His breathing returned back to normal as he watched Norma walk towards him with a sad look on her face. "Sweetie, i'm not lying." She says softly, looking at him with glassy eyes. "I'm done hiding this from you, okay ?" Norma continues, looking at Dylan who now had a confusing look on his face. After a moment of silence, he spoke up. "So... That means that you can do things normal people can't do ?" 

She nodded and pulled her oldest in a tight embrace. Dylan wasn't used to this kind of affection and he wouldn't admit it to himself but it did feel good, having his mother give him the love she wouldn't give him before.

It was always Norman his mother really cared about and Dylan wouldn't let himself be jealous, but sometimes it was hard not to be loved. "I need you to forgive me Dylan, I'm sorry for everything. I know it'll take time but I'm ready to wait." Norma said, her cheek resting on her son's shoulder. "Sure mom." He answered. After a while, they let go and stayed in a comfortable silence. "Where's Norman ?" Dylan asked, wondering why his brother wasn't home.

"He's at school, now you should've eaten properly for breakfast. Let me make you some eggs." She added, looking at him fondly. "No I'm good, I'm gonna go look for a job if you don't mind." Dylan said while kissing his mother on the cheek quickly before leaving the house.

While standing in front of the window, she saw her oldest leave the house, walking quickly towards his car. Norma frowned when she saw Dylan suddenly stop. She couldn't see him that well from afar but she could make out his confused expression. What was he looking at ?


	7. Interesting morning

Norma put on her red coat and got out of the house in a hurry. Her oldest was standing still, not daring to move.

She walked towards him and she saw them, police cars and officers, talking in hushed tones. "Dylan, what happened ?" She asked while directing her gaze towards the sheriff who was writing something on his notepad.

"I don't know mom, it looks like there was a car accident or something. Such an interesting morning in White Pine Bay, nice town you picked here." He blurred out, letting his wide smile betray him. "Oh, shut up !" Norma said, slapping him gently on his arm. She wasn't really used to joking with her oldest, but so far, she was enjoying it.

She had so many regrets in her life and she only wanted to not have them anymore. Of course one of them was the fact that she hadn't loved Dylan enough. That would change.

"I'm gonna go ask the sheriff what happened, will you be okay ?" She asked Dylan, who was grabbing a cigarette out of his pocket. "Yeah I'll be fine. But I just want to ask you, why didn't you tell me that you were a witch earlier, did Norman know about it ?" Dylan added. He wasn't really sure if he believed her, sure, the idea of his mother being able to do things normal people couldn't do was crazy.

He got his lighter out of his pocket. "Yes, he knew..." She replied, feeling extremely guilty about the fact that she didn't trust her own son enough. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you but you had moved out and I couldn't picture myself telling you this over the phone."

She explained, looking down the road. The police sirens were flashing, making Norma slightly close her eyes. Dylan was now holding his cigarette between his fingers and blew out the grey smoke. "Okay, I get it." He said between puffs. "Didn't you want to speak to the sheriff ?" He added, directing his gaze towards his mother who was still looking around.

"Right, i'll see you later honey." She said with a sad smile. She marched towards Romero who was now talking to one of his deputies, he looked busy but she decided to talk to him anyway. As she stopped in front of him, she saw that it was Zack Shelby who was talking to him.

She froze, after what she had seen about this man, she wanted to keep her distance. She couldn't trust anyone, especially someone who made her have visions in order to warn her. She didn't really know the sheriff either. But she knew that the fact that she hadn't had any visions regarding Romero didn't mean that she could trust him, "Good morning ma'am, how are y-" Zack Shelby started. "I need to ask you something sheriff." Norma said, interrupting Shelby in the process.

The deputy looked utterly offended, she decided not to pay attention to him and moved on : "What the hell happened here ? Why was it right in front of my motel ?" She asked, sounding annoyed. She felt the deputy's gaze on her and uncomfortably shifted.

"There was a car accident, a guy was found dead in the car, his body was burned." Romero answered blankly, looking over his shoulder to see another deputy shouting and beckoning him over. "You have to see this, sheriff."

"If you'll excuse me." The sheriff apologized and made his way towards the deputy, leaving Norma and Shelby alone.

"What a sunny day right ?" the deputy said, to make small talk. She ignored him, looking down awkwardly at her feet. She didn't know what she was supposed to do now, she got all of the information she wanted so why not come back and make some renovations for the motel ? She got pulled out of her train of thoughts when she heard the sheriff scream "Mrs Bates, could you come with me please ?" She looked up and saw Romero with his hands on his hips, waiting for her to join him. At least that gave her the opportunity not to stay with Zack Shelby anymore.

She nodded and gave the deputy a tight smile and walked towards the sheriff. Romero disappeared from her view and she wondered where the hell he was going.

As Norma followed him, he stopped in front of an old truck. But it looked familiar. Wasn't that Keith Summers' truck ?

The sheriff and looked at her briefly before turning his attention back to the parked vehicle. "Do you know who owns this truck ?" He asked, furrowing his brows. "Uh, no I don't." She replied, not wanting to be involved with anything. "It belongs to Keith Summers."

Norma started panicking at the mention of this name but didn't show it and kept her poker face. 

"Hasn't been home for a couple of nights." He continued, looking at Norma with a questioning glare. "Why did he leave his truck here ?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"That's what we're trying to find out." Romero said, his expression as stoic as ever. "Well, good luck." Norma added. She didn't really know what she was supposed to say now so she made her way back to the house, feeling the sheriff's gaze on her until she was out of view.

When Norma came home, she felt so tired, yet it was around 10 in the morning. She remembered she had to go down to the motel to replace some of the used furniture. She decided to take care of the renovations later, she just wanted to eat again, why had she become so hungry all the time ? She grabbed a book from her shelf, one of her favorites : The Picture Of Dorian Gray. "A classic." She thought, letting out a small smile as she sat down in front of her plate full of her unfinished eggs from breakfast.

She thought it would be nice to light a scented candle. She stood up and walked towards the bathroom and grabbed one candle, lit it with her bare finger : she placed her index on the wick and lit it with ease. She came back in the kitchen, ready to relax before taking care of this dilapidated motel.


	8. Is that it ?

After hours of cleaning and replacing furniture, Norma felt sweaty and tired. Her muscles were sore and she just wanted a hot shower.

Norman was going to get back from school, Dylan was supposed to take care of the bed linens, and she was exhausted. After she was done cleaning the motel's windows, that would be it for today.

She came back up to the house, climbed up the stairs and crashed on her bed. She let out a long sigh, she still wondered where Dylan was. "Why is he taking so long to get bed linens ?" She wondered.

She heard the parlor door open slowly, it was either Norman or Dylan. She stood up and walked towards the staircase, to see her youngest coming back. He looked tired.

Norman saw his mother eyeing him and he looked up. "Hello mother, how was your day ?" He asked, removing his coat and his shoes to step in.

"It was okay, I cleaned down at the motel." She replied, walking down the stairs slowly, still in her maid outfit. "That's great." Her youngest added, looking at her fondly.

"Dylan came home." She confessed, stepping in the parlor, looking at Norman seriously. He seemed disturbed by the news.

The teenage boy frowned and asked "How long is he going to stay ?" "As long as he needs to." She replied, keeping her tone neutral, sensing discomfort in the boy's face. "Is dinner ready ?" Norman asked, letting his discontent show.

"It's 4:32 in the afternoon Norman." She answered, keeping her eyes locked on his. "I'm going to go study, I have a lot of homework."

He added, making his way to his bedroom, leaving Norma alone. She sat on one of the stairs and stayed there, waiting for Dylan to come home.

After dinner, Dylan still wasn't home. Her youngest had gone to bed and Norma decided to occupy herself in her room. She turned on her laptop, not really knowing what she was going to do. She typed in "Zack Shelby" on the keyboard after opening the Google tab.

She only found some articles about him, mostly about some special events he attended to. She heard the door open. Norma rushed out of her room and saw her oldest, his hands full of the bed linens she had ordered.

"Where the hell have you been ? I was so worried." Norma said, running down the stairs. "I got a job." Dylan replied blankly and put the bed linens on the couch in the living room. "You did ? That's great." She answered, following him while a smile spread over her face.

"I'm going to bed Dylan, leftovers are in the fridge." Norma added, turning around to go back to her room.

Once she stepped in, she removed all of her clothes, leaving her underwear on, slipping on her blue chemise and her blue satin robe.

She sat on the bench of her vanity, grabbed the lotion and applied it on her leg, slowly. She stopped shortly to examine the ugly scar she had on her thigh.

She had tried to remove it with magic but it had never worked, maybe the scar couldn't be removed because she still had the horrible memories from her childhood. She would have to forget that, but she didn't think she actually could. She let her fingers touch and caress the mark softly.

The doorbell rang loudly and made Norma realize that someone was waiting outside the door. She sighed again, stood up and untied her hair. She made sure to tie the knot on her robe correctly, she also made sure not to show anything since she was still in her chemise.

"What is it with people being so impatient ?" Norma thought, walking through the parlor and freezing when she saw the sheriff standing in front of the door, looking annoyed.

She slowly opened it. Norma had just wanted a calm and tranquil evening, she was tired of having to talk to these policemen already, although she barely knew them, she just wanted them to get out of her porch. "Good evening." She said, sticking her head out first and going outside, resting her hand on the door frame.

Sheriff Romero spoke first "I remember you telling me you didn't know who Keith Summers was, and implied at the same time that you hadn't seen him." "Yes that's right." She answered, crossing her arms, and tried to look as relaxed as possible, although inside, she was so clearly panicking.

She didn't want to go to jail, she couldn't. "Well we've got an eye witness who saw you talk to him, and it looked a little heated." The sheriff said stoically, looking at her with an insistent look. 

"Well I didn't know you meant recently." Norma defended herself, avoiding the sheriff's indirect accusation. "To some people, the past week might be considered as recent." He shot back.

Zack Shelby was behind the sheriff and was looking down, not wanting to meet Norma's gaze. 

After a short silence, Norma added "Sorry, that's all the information I have so, is that it ?",just wanting to end this conversation already. "No actually we'd like to take a look inside the house." Romero blurred out, his tone flat.

They couldn't do that could they ? They needed a search warrant for that, Norma was sure of it but at this point, she didn't even want to talk to the sheriff who was basically harassing her.

She knew something that would make him change his mind.


	9. Control

The mind controlling spell always worked, it had helped her in so many different situations, although she usually felt bad about having to use it for her own ends.

Whether it was in the supermarket, at the bookstore or at the mall, it was and is still very helpful. 

She just needed to stare at someone long enough and recite in her head what she wanted them to do. Easy and efficient.

When she stared at the sheriff silently, thinking about wanting him to go back to his SUV, Norma was surprised when she saw nothing change in his behavior.

He was supposed to turn around and leave. Why wasn't her magic working right now ? It had never happened before and made her shift uncomfortably, thinking of reasons why her powers were betraying her when she needed them the most.

"Damn it." She thought, hating the sheriff right now.

Since they had stayed in silence for a while now, Romero was looking at her questioningly, wondering why all of the sudden the woman in front of her decided not to answer his previous request.

"So, does that mean yes ?" He asked sarcastically.

"No, I think you need a search warrant for something like that." She shot back, more annoyed than ever.

She was angry at the sheriff, but mostly at herself for not being able to make her stupid powers work.

She felt nothing but frustration right now but tried to hide it as Shelby looked at her softly.

The deputy turned around and left, leaving Norma and Romero alone. "You better work with me, okay ? I'm the last guy you want on your bad side" He said, not really asking but threatening her. 

This wasn't a suggestion nor an option and she knew it.

After closing the door behind her, she let out a growl of annoyance, angered at what just happened a few seconds ago. P

She just had wanted to feel in control, she had just wanted these policemen to stay away from her, they meant nothing good.

She was still in the parlor, lost in thought, wondering what went wrong with her powers in that moment.

Norma climbed back upstairs, feeling the warmth of the heat back on her skin. Staying outside had made her feel cold. It wasn't particularly freezing but she only had a thin robe and chemise.

The next morning, she awoke rather peacefully at seven in the morning, she had to take care of the motel again.

Since it was Saturday, her youngest would be here to help, which she was grateful for. After last night's events, she had been quite shaken up. The fact that she still didn't know why her powers hadn't worked was still on her mind.

She went downstairs and started cooking for the boys, they would wake up in a while and she wanted to have breakfast ready for them. 

Yesterday, Dylan told her he had gotten himself a job, she hadn't thought about asking him what kind of job it was, but she would at some point. 

Norma heard the sound of footsteps behind her, she turned around and saw both her sons sitting down at the table. "Morning !" She said cheerfully, earning herself tight smiles from Dylan and Norman.

After breakfast, Norman had helped her with the motel and Dylan had gone to work. It was a busy and peaceful morning. The sky was grey and clouds were hovering around, hiding the sun from their eyes.

At twelve, Norma took a break and had lunch with her son, who had to do homework in the afternoon. The day went on, Norma was glad the police, especially the sheriff hadn't harassed her today. It would be indeed a tranquil day, she thought.


	10. Peace

A week after, Norma had finally decided to open the motel.

Business was slow, but wasn't it always at first ? She decided not to worry about that.

The motel was now painted in yellow and she had managed to make it look lovely, she was proud of herself and of her hard work.

During this busy week, the police had arrested her, she had tried once again to try the spell on Romero but it still hadn't worked.

Shelby had been sent to prison after the police found the girl in his basement. Norma finally knew why her vision had warned her to stay away from this man.

Everything would be alright now, the Keith Summers case was closed and she had felt such relief. The sheriff had suspected her because some of the the things she had said about Keith's disappearance didn't add up, they never found a body, of course they would never, Norma knew damn well why.

There wasn't any proof regarding her involvement with Summers anymore except for the "only" conversation they had on her front lawn. Romero stopped coming to the house to ask questions, everything was fine.

But, was it really though ?

In the middle of the day, a man had came to the motel, asking for his old room. Norma registered his ID and his credit card informations, he was all set.

After doing the chores she had to do for the day, Norma decided to go down the village to take a walk.

She knew people usually liked to gossip about her but she wouldn't really care and give them the attention they were seeking.

Norman was at school, Dylan at work.

When she had asked him what his job was, he said that he was working out of town, without giving any details, maybe he was embarrassed ? That's why Norma wouldn't push him, not wanting to force Dylan to talk about his new employment.

It was a mild day, Norma walked in front of the lovely shops, a coffee cup in hand.

She knew there was a bookshop around here but she didn't exactly know where. She spotted the sheriff eating a burger, it was around 1pm and Norma had realized that she didn't even eat before coming here.

She walked towards the sheriff, tried to look as friendly as possible and said "Hello there." a tight smile blooming on her lips. She didn't really know why she was being all nice with the sheriff when he was the one who arrested her, there was something about him that fascinated her.

She wanted to know more about this mysterious policeman. He looked up briefly before taking a bite of his food, not answering her right away. "Hello Mrs. Bates."

"I was just wondering where the bookshop was ?" She added, not sure of herself.

She didn't really want to push him and be insistent. He held his hand and showed the left side of the street with his fingers. "You go there, and after that, on your right." He finished, sounding annoyed at the disturbance.

He wasn't used to talking to people in general, he was used to eating his meal alone without anyone bothering him.

"Okay, thank you." She said. She stayed here for a few seconds and the sheriff looked at her, wondering why she wasn't walking away right now. "You know, you're going to have a stroke because of this." Pointing out what was left of his meal.

He ignored her, focusing on drinking the bottle of water that was on the table. Seeing that he wasn't saying anything back, she left for good. "He's a piece of work." She thought, marching slowly.

It was now 3pm, Norma was staying at the motel office, looking blankly at her laptop.

Maybe she was waiting for someone to appear miraculously and ask for a room. She sighed and rested her elbows on the desk, not moving. This Abernathy guy wasn't in his room, he probably wouldn't be back right away, that gave her the opportunity to get out of the office.

She wanted to go for a walk in the woods, she never actually went into the woods, why not see something new today right ?

She slipped on her coat and traded her heels for knee length rain boots.

She took her scarf and went out. Once into the woods, she felt calmness flow through her, it was calm, you could hear the breeze of the soft wind and the noise of the birds singing, it made her feel at peace.

She looked around and the sun blinded her for a few seconds, she allowed it to warm her skin a little, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

There was no one here, she could use her powers if she wanted to, nobody would see her.

So that's what she did. She focused and drew her power from the light that the sun was letting. 

Transmutation, also known as teleportation : Norma loved using this particular power, she could be everywhere, all at once. She remembered Zoe helping her with this power. It had been complicated for Norma at first but with training, she had managed it pretty well in the end.

She took another deep breath, and used her powers. After Norma had started running for a very short amount of time, she now was on the other side of the forest.

Norma hoped she wasn't going to get lost, since she had never been to this side.

She looked around, pleased with herself. "At least transmutation works." She thought. But yet again, the same question was still on her mind, why and how did Concilium fail when she tried it on the grumpy sheriff ? She was tired of not knowing the goddamn answer. She should probably call Cordelia about it.


	11. I’ll take care of it

Norma managed to find a way back to the motel, even though she wasn't particularly familiar with her surroundings in the woods.

As she was walking back, she saw the man in number 9 wander around the motel, he was examining the building, it looked like he was trying to find something.

She walked slowly towards him but suddenly stopped when he turned around and pointed a gun at Norma.

He approached her, keeping his pace slow. "Where's the money ?" He asked confidently.

"What money ?" She answered, confused by the situation. She didn't even have that much money to begin with, was there a large sum of money hidden in the motel somewhere ? How could she have known about this ?

Her breathing changed, he was looking at her, not believing what she had just said. "Come with the money tonight at the docks, 10pm, no one will get hurt if you do as I say"

She nods, unable to think clearly. She sees him walking back to his car. He gets inside and drives away, leaving Norma confused and scared.

"I need to speak to sheriff Romero right away." Norma said, her tone alarming.

The receptionist wasn't doing anything, she moved her head slowly to look at Norma and said "What is your name please ?" "It's Nor-" She started. "Norma Louise Bates." Came a voice from the other side of the glass.

Sheriff Romero.

"We need to talk." She said, wiggling her fingers in his direction.

She did her best to explain the situation "He threatened me, this guy literally had a gun pointed at me !" She said, annoyed by the sheriff's indifference.

She wanted the police to be involved with the case, she didn't want to face this alone. "I'll take care of it." He added blankly, not even looking at her. "What the hell do you mean ? You'll just take care of it ?" She replied, ridiculously imitating him.

She had come in here to get actual help. If the sheriff wasn't going to help, she would do this alone.

Norma hadn't really believed him when he told her that he would "take care of it", she didn't trust him enough.

She stormed out, looking angry and annoyed, everyone's eyes were on her for a few seconds and she blushed, not realizing that she probably had been loud when complaining to Romero.

After dinner, Norman went to bed after watching a movie with his mother, although it was her favorite movie, she just couldn't get into it, she was thinking too much about what was going to happen when she showed up.

She was a witch, she could defend herself if she had to, this was pretty much the only thing she was confident about.

Norma made sure not to wake her youngest when she climbed down the stairs with a stuffed bag in her hand.

There was nothing special in the bag, just plain clothes. Since she really didn't know about the money the man was after, she knew she would probably have to commit another murder, or this guy would never leave her and her family alone.

Would she really be able to handle the death of someone weighing on her conscience ? 

Probably, her time in the academy taught her not to have mercy and to defend herself against any threats, she could do this, she had to.

She grabbed her keys on the counter and opened the door, the cold wind of the night making her shiver. P

She made sure to lock behind her, she marched towards her car quickly, not wanting to feel the cold anymore.

If she could go back to the house where it was warm, she would. She opened the car door and got in. She sat in the driver's seat, put the bag aside on the passenger's seat and turned the heat on,

She drove through the night, aware of her dark surroundings.

The sound of silence filled the car, she didn't particularly want to play any music, she needed to focus on the one and important task.

Once she arrived, she stayed in her vehicle for a while, taking a deep breath, gathering her strength and her powers, she would sure need them tonight.

She opened the car door and got out, walked at a slow pace towards the docks.

She could make out the shadowy silhouette that was standing still, it was probably Abernathy and he was waiting.

As she approached him, he stepped forward, looking at her with a defiant glare. She held the straps of the bag tightly in her hand as she stood before him.

They stayed in silence for a while, staring at each other. "Do you have the money ?" He asked, his tone demanding. "I don't know, do i ?" She replied, raising an eyebrow at him.

What Norma didn't know was that sheriff Romero was watching the scene, hidden in a corner. 

When he told her he would take care of it, he meant it. He had brought the bag of money, he was ready to give it to the bastard and then shoot him in the process.

When he saw that Norma wanted to deal with the situation, he was surprised and decided to let her to her thing, if things went down, he would obviously come out of his hiding spot and help her.

Alex was intrigued by Norma, she seemed so mysterious to him when they first met and even after that.

"What do you mean ? You don't have the money ?" Abernathy asked, becoming impatient and getting a hold of the gun he had in his back pocket.

Norma threw the bag in front of her, inviting the man to see what was inside.

While he stepped forward to grab the bag, she took the opportunity to use Telekinesis. She clenched her fist and held out her hand to take the man by the neck without even touching him. 

As he was gasping for air, Norma maintained eye contact, there was fire in her eyes as she strangled Abernathy, or whatever his name was.

He coughed, trying desperately to fight back and wriggle out of the strong invisible grip, he didn't understand what was going on but he knew that he would probably die tonight.

His feet weren't touching the ground anymore and he felt like he was flying.

Alex knew he should probably leave but he just couldn't, he was amazed by what he was watching right now.

He tried to think rationally about how Norma managed to strangle a person without even making physical contact but couldn't find an explanation.

He had sensed that Norma wasn't a regular person, there was obviously something about her. Romero watched her kill the man with concentration, he was still astonished, he should've probably done something by now, this was literally murder, a major crime.

Alex thought "Screw it" and let his gaze travel back to what was happening in front of him.

He heard Abernathy say through gritted teeth "P- Please...", Norma didn't flinch and kept using her powers, she furrowed her brows and focused on ending the man's life as quickly as possible although strangulation could sure take some time.


	12. Figure it out

Norma focused and made sure that Abernathy wasn't breathing anymore.

She was still maintaining her strong grip on his neck, after a few seconds of thinking about what to do with him, she decided to drop him into the water.

When she heard the splash, it was all over, he was dead and she hoped that nobody would find the body.

She stood still, taking a long and deep breath to calm herself, she opened her coat slowly, wanting to feel the cold wind, she felt sweat dripping down her forehead, wiped it and put both her hands on her hips.

She looked around and Alex made sure not to be seen, he was planning on waiting for her to go back to her car to get out of his discrete spot.

After a while, she realized something.

"Shit." She said out loud, panic creeping through her.

She could've made the body disappear, like she did for Keith Summers, at least she could've been sure that no cadaver was ever going to be found, ever.

What an idiot she had been, how could have she forgotten ? She let out a growl of annoyance and covered her face with her hands, frustrated and annoyed with herself.

The sheriff kept his expression focused as he saw Norma Bates lose control, she was always so confident and he was taken aback by the sudden change in her behavior, what was she so annoyed at ?

Norma calmed down and decided to get the hell out of here, she walked quickly towards her car and left, feeling the cold caress the back of her neck.

Alex watched Norma leave in a hurry, he then got out of his hiding spot, still holding the bag of money and scrutinized the water in which the body had been dropped, he was trying to figure out what to do with Norma, she had committed a murder but was he really going to send her in jail ?

She had kids for God's sake. He decided to let her get away with it, Alex would've probably killed the man too if he was in this situation, he couldn't blame her.

But Romero was still wondering what Norma was, she had lifted Abernathy off the ground with a huge strength and managed to kill him without dropping his body.

Alex was pretty sure he was even more amazed by this woman than he already was.

10:45 pm

Norma unlocked the front door, carrying the bag and dropping it loudly on the floor, causing it to creak. She had just killed someone again and felt numb, she didn't want to be used to killing people, that wasn't the lifestyle she was hoping for when she moved in this weird town.

When she stepped in her room, she sat on the vanity bench and looked at her reflection calmly. 

After a few minutes of watching herself, she noticed that one of her earrings wasn't here anymore. These pearl earrings were given to her by Cordelia as a gift, no special occasion, just an act of "friendship". Norma started panicking seeing that she only had one earring now, she would never forgive herself if she lost her dearest friend's gift. 

She cupped her cheeks with her hands and let out a long sigh, maybe she had lost it at the docks ? What if the earring had fallen into the water ?

"Fuck." She thought, looking at her clock, seeing that it was almost 11pm already.

She decided to go looking for her earring tomorrow, when the sun would shine (at least she hoped it would). But it if was in the water, how was she going to find it ? After a lot of thinking she realized that she knew a spell that could help, that was it, she knew what she could do to find this damn piece of jewelry. Maybe it would work.

She stood up, pulled down the zipper of her jeans and got out of them, she unbuttoned her blouse and let it pool on the floor, she didn't want to bother tonight to fold her clothes and put them in her closet. She walked slowly in front of the mirror and looked at her body. She had a black lace bra and matching panties, she let her hand travel to the hem of her parties slowly. Her fingertips slowly traveled to her upper thigh. She sighed and let her head fall down. 

10:35 pm

Alex stayed a little while after Norma had left, he found the peace and the silence of this place oddly comforting.

He slowly walked, looking around him and taking in the scenery.

As he marched back to his SUV, he stepped on something round shaped.

He removed his feet and tried to look at what he was walking on. It was too dark to make out anything so he grabbed his flashlight out of his back pocket, turned it on and examined what looked like a pearl earring.

He wondered who it belonged to, he furrowed his brow and watched more closely the earring. 

He didn't know much about jewelry but this did not look cheap. Alex turned off his flashlight and stuffed the earring in his pocket, walked calmly towards the police SUV and opened the car door. 

Once he was seated, he tried to process the events of this evening, so many crazy things had happened and he wasn't even sure about the accuracy of some of them.

Had Norma really killed someone by strangling them without even making physical contact ? He shook his head, no that couldn't be humanly possible right ?

He didn't particularly want to but he had to confront Norma about it, he knew it was not going to be easy, knowing how stubborn the both of them were, they were probably going to keep contradicting each other.

He looked at his watch, it was only 10:35pm, he would pay her a late visit, he hoped she wasn't asleep yet, but he needed to get these unanswered questions out of his head, he was going to go paranoid if he didn't know what was going on with this woman who was driving him crazy.

He drove through the darkness calmly, towards Norma Bates' house.

He had his headlights on and was listening to the radio at a very low volume, Bohemian Rhapsody was starting to play and he turned the sound on a little bit more.

Is this the real life, is this just fantasy... He sang along, his voice low, looking in front of him advertently.

This wasn't the time to sing, he had to be prepared for what he was going to say. He completely turned off the radio, although he absolutely loved this song and desperately wanted to listen to it to loosen up a bit.

He pulled over next to Norma's car, slowly regaining his breath.

Why the hell was he even nervous ? He was the sheriff for God's sake, he was not going to stress over this.

He went back to his stoic expression and got out of the car, hearing his feet crunch on the gravel. He closed the door and saw that the light from Norma's room was on, she wasn't asleep, he could go talk to her.

He just wanted to tell her that he saw everything but also wanted to reassure her. He was going to let her get away with it.

He wanted her to explain what had happened when she murdered this guy, he would only accept the truth, nothing but the truth.

Alex knew what he saw : a man floating in the air, getting strangled by a furious Norma who wasn't even touching him, he had been observing the murder long enough to be sure that his vision wasn't betraying him.

After looking at his watch he looked up and saw Norma's silhouette at the window, his eyes adjusted to the lighting and he saw her, in underwear, looking at herself in the mirror, touching her upper thigh.

He knew the second he lay his eyes on her that he should've looked away, respecting her privacy but he just couldn't.

He immediately forgot about everything he was supposed to talk to her about. After a few minutes, he shook his head.

No, what he was doing was really creepy and he did not want to be this kind of man. He rubbed his forehead and let out a growl of annoyance, he was angry at himself for even looking at her like that, he had been invading her privacy but he also had to tell her about the fact that anyone could be able to see through her curtains.

After regaining his composure, he saw the light turn off, he was left in the dark on his own.

Alex went back to his car and drove back to the station, this was going to be a sleepless night.

When he stepped inside, the staff started looking at him curiously.

They were surprised to see him look nervous, he always had his stoic facade and they were all taken aback by his unusual expression. "Are you okay sheriff ?" Regina asked, furrowing her brows worryingly.

After everything that had happened this evening, he needed a drink, and quickly. He did his best to regain his composure and said : "Yes I'm fine, just been a rough evening." while walking towards his office and closing the door behind him.

One of his deputies looked at Regina, raising an eyebrow and resting his elbow on his desk : "What do you think it is ?" She looked at him and replied "I don't know Mark, the sheriff is a private person, remember ?"

Alex heard the muffled noise of his staff talking, he wasn't in the mood to listen to what they were gossiping about.

He walked around his office, taking a long sip of scotch.

He put the glass back on his desk and knew that he wasn't in uniform, when he had hidden with the money at the docks, it didn't feel necessary to him to wear it, he wasn't even on duty. The bag of money had stayed in his trunk and he wondered what he was going to do with it.

He took the pearl earring out of his pocket and put it on his desk.

He stared at it for a while and decided to just leave it there, he wasn't going to throw it away, it would be safe in his office. He sat back on his chair and pulled out a stack of paperwork out of his drawer. It would be a busy night indeed.


	13. Surprise

Norma woke up early to take care of the motel and run some errands down the village. She sat up and stretched out her arms. Norma told herself she would call Cordelia to talk about her issues but she never actually got the opportunity to do so.

After going to the bathroom, she went downstairs and saw Norman at the table reading a book. "Where's Dylan ?" She asked, wondering where her oldest was.

"Work." Norman replied blankly not looking at her.

"What do you want for breakfast ?" She asked, not wanting to push the conversation further. Dylan still hadn't talked about his job to her and she was worried, what the hell was he doing ? She hoped it wasn't something illegal.

Since her youngest didn't answer her, she snatched the book from his hands suddenly and looked at him with a deadly stare.

"Hey ! I wasn't done reading that." He shot back, looking annoyed.

"What's wrong ? Why are you ignoring me ?" She asked, wanting to understand why her son was acting like that.

He sighed and told her "I feel like we don't spend time together anymore, you're just so busy with the motel and I feel like I don't have free time because of school and it's just upsetting me..."

She looked at her son and pulled him in a tight embrace "I'm sorry, tomorrow we can do something, what about a movie ?" She suggested, seeing Norman's face light up.

"A movie would be nice." He replied, a beaming smile on his face. She wanted to tell her youngest about what had happened with Abernathy but she didn't want to ruin the moment. She would tell him eventually, just not right now. She took a step back, looking at him fondly and turning around to start making breakfast. "How's Emma ?" Norma asked, remembering the first time she had met this nice girl, she actually felt guilty for harassing Emma with questions, but she had wanted to get to know the teenage girl better. "She's doing fine." He answered simply.

As she was frying the bacon, she turned around and took a sip of her coffee. She put it back on the counter and asked "I'm gonna call Cordelia and then run some errands, would you mind going down at the office for a bit ?" She wiped her hands on the apron and looked at Norman who had gone back to reading "Of course Mother." She smiled and finished making breakfast.

She dialed Cordelia's number and waited patiently for her to pick up. After a while, she heard "Hello ?" At the other end of the line.

"Hi ! It's me Norma." She said happily, glad she could finally talk to her friend.

"Oh hey, how's it going ?" Cordelia asked, sounding cheerful as well. "I'm good, sorry I didn't call earlier I've just been really busy with the motel and stuff." Norma said, feeling guilty for not giving Cordelia a call.

"Oh don't worry it's totally fine." The supreme said reassuringly. She continued "I'm coming to visit you."

Norma's eyes widened in surprise. "What ? You're coming here ?" She asked, sounding worried. 

"I wanted to surprise you, I'm at the airport right now and my ticket isn't refundable, I'm so sorry is there any reason why I shouldn't be coming ?" Cordelia asked guiltily, regretting not telling her friend about her visit.

"No ! Of course not, I'm just surprised, I missed you..." Norma replied, smiling warmly. She swung her leg back and forth as she sat up on her bed.

"Well I missed you too." Cordelia said, holding her book which was standing on her lap while she was waiting in the boarding area. "My flight is here, I'll see you in like 4 hours." She continued while standing and holding her cellphone between her shoulder and her ear.

"Wow okay, I'm gonna get everything ready for when you arrive, are you going to take a cab ?" Norma said, excited to finally see her friend.

"Yeah don't worry about me." Cordelia replied, touched by her concern. "I'm ready to go into the plane, see you later." She continued while walking towards the large glass doors.

"Okay, bye." Norma said while standing to hang up. She put her cell phone down and marched towards the closet, ready to get dressed. Today, she had decided to wear a black coat and a purple dress.

She rushed downstairs, kissing Norman quickly before closing the door behind her. She walked to her car, got in and buckled her belt. She turned on the radio and shuffled through the channels. When she heard the song Strawberry Fields Forever play on the radio, she smiled and started driving.

She walked through the frozen products aisle. She grimaced when she looked at these pre-cooked meals, she had wanted to get peas and had to go to the frozen section.

After looking around, she saw what she wanted and put the bag of peas in her cart.

She turned around and saw Romero from afar at the other end of the aisle, looking at the frozen meals.

Norma frowned and marched towards him, tapping on his shoulder lightly.

He suddenly turned around and let out a sigh of annoyance when he saw that it was her. The first thing Alex noticed was Norma's missing earring, it matched the one that was in his office. 

She only had one on and he now knew who what he found yesterday belonged to.

He was staring at her absently, focusing on her only earring.

"You don't even know what are in those things !" She said, attracting his attention, pointing at the frozen meal.

"What about it ?" He answered simply, not wanting to put up with her today.

She crossed her arms and let out a growl of annoyance.

"Why don't you tell me what you were doing at the docks yesterday ?" He blurred out, causing her to look up and gasp slowly.

She slowly regained her composure, and tried to figure out what to tell him.

Should she lie ? "I wasn't at the docks sheriff." She added calmly, staring at him in the eye.

"Stop lying Norma." He replied, a little loudly, causing the other customers to turn around.

He took her gently by the arm and said "We need to talk in private."

She nodded. Norma wasn't scared of the sheriff, he seemed like a good guy, even if she knew wasn't supposed to rely on appearances.

"How about we pay for what we purchased first huh ?" She suggested smugly. He rolled his eyes and made his way to the cash registers, she followed behind.

They stepped out of the grocery store after paying for their items. Norma saw something on a wall nearby, it was a sheet.

Holding the bags in her hands, she made her way slowly towards the little poster taped on the wall.

Alex was watching her calmly from afar, seeing that she had seen the bypass notice.

Norma widened her eyes and furrowed her brows.

"A bypass ?" She whispered, mostly to herself. "Damn." She blurred out, forgetting about the sheriff watching her. She turned around, looked at him and added "Did you know about this ?". He nodded, looking at her seriously.

"I have to do something about this ! How are people supposed to acknowledge the existence of my motel ?" She said loudly, dropping the grocery bags on the ground.

"I don't know if there's something you can do Norma." Romero said, walking towards her and grabbing her bags along with his own, he only had one and there wasn't much in it anyway.

She rubbed her forehead, looking nervously at him.

"Come on let's grab a bite." He said softly.

"I should probably put the grocery bags in my trunk real quick first, thank you." Norma answered, taking the bags from him. She walked quickly towards her car and Alex stood still, waiting for her to come back. He saw her at the other side of the street, opening her car trunk and discarding the items clumsily.

They entered the café near the grocery store. They chose a booth at the corner and sat.

Alex put his grocery bag aside next to him and waved at the waitress. She took their order and left quickly.

The sheriff intertwined his fingers on the table and looked at the woman in front of him showing no emotion.

"So, care to explain how you managed to lift that man off the ground and kill him without even making physical contact ? What you were doing seemed superhuman." He started, his tone demanding.

"It's complicated." She answered blankly, not wanting to tell him explicitly that she was a witch. 

"Complicated how ?" He asked. The sheriff wasn't in his uniform today, he was taking the morning off and he'd come back to the station in the afternoon. Norma had been surprised to see him with normal clothes, she was so used to seeing him with his sheriff outfit.

"Listen, you can't tell anyone about yesterday." She said, avoiding his question.

"You want me to lie about a murder ?" He asked calmly. Of course he wasn't going to tell anything.

She looked down, not wanting to meet his insistent gaze. "Yes ?" She added, not sure of herself. 

"Okay." He replied, causing her to look up and frown. She let out a small smile and thanked the sheriff.

"So what are you Mrs. Bates ? A superhero ?" He blurred out, smirking. Norma was surprised to see the sheriff actually smile, he had always looked so stoic and she was taken aback by the tight smile on his lips.

She chuckled lightly. The waitress came with their food. She put the plates on the table and left. Norma grabbed her fork and took a whole strawberry in her mouth. "Not exactly." She said while chewing. "Right." Alex said, eating a piece of bacon.

They stood awkwardly in the middle of the street. Norma smiled lightly "Well, thank you for the food."

She said, looking at him. "I'm probably going to the city council meeting tomorrow, you know, for the bypass." She continued.

"Well good luck with that. And you're welcome." He said, looking around, too nervous to meet her gaze.

"Bye." She blurred out, walking away from him slowly. He didn't get the answers he wanted but it was fine, she would probably stay a complete mystery to him and he didn't mind.

He was letting her away with murder because she didn't deserve to go to jail, he hoped Norma wasn't going to get in trouble again. Alex didn't want to have to cover another murder.

-

Norma put the grocery bags on the table and saw that Norman was still reading. "Norman ! I told you to go down at the office while I was away, why didn't you ?" She said, annoyed at her son's indifference.

He looked up and his eyes widened in surprise. "I'm so sorry mother, I was too focused on reading I totally forgot." Norman said apologetically.

She sighed loudly and started putting the items in the fridge. Her son looked at her blankly while she was holding the groceries. "Aren't you gonna help me ? Jesus." She blurred out, seeing that he was wasn't even reacting. "Yes, right. Sorry."

They both sat at the table after finishing.

Norman went back to reading and Norma rested her elbow on the table, holding her cheek with the palm of her hand.

"We can't watch a movie tonight Norman." She said out of the blue.

Her youngest put his book down and looked at her annoyingly. "Why's that ?" He asked, his tone angry.

"Because Cordelia is coming, she wanted to pay us a visit." Norma explained feeling guilty, she had promised Norman they would watch a movie and they couldn't even do it.

"I'm sorry honey." She said while standing up. "What do you want for lunch ?" She asked him and saw that he still looked angry.

"I wanted to spend my Saturday night with you but apparently we have a visitor so...."

"Norman will you stop being so childish !" She shot back with a frown of annoyance. The boy sighed and resumed reading.

After lunch, Norma went down to the office. She opened her laptop and saw that three people were supposed to check in today. She smiled widely and grabbed her notepad. She wrote a list of chores she needed to do before those people checked in.

As she was cleaning the windows, she heard the sound of gravel, she turned around and saw the familiar black and white SUV. She wondered why the sheriff was here.

Alex got out of the car, he was now in his uniform, he was supposed to be at the station in 15 minutes but he wanted to check up on Norma.

He approached her, his expression emotionless.

She stopped what she was doing and stayed still. "What are you doing here ?" She asked, not unhappy to see him for the second time today.

"Just wanted to tell you that I signed you up on the agenda to talk at the city council meeting tomorrow, you can still cancel if you don't want to do it of course." He said awkwardly, looking at his feet.

Norma furrowed her brows and smirked in disbelief, why would he do something nice for her ? "Well, thank you ! I was planning on doing that tonight. At what time is the meeting ?" She said, putting her small towel in the pocket of her apron.

"Um, 11am, is that okay ?" He announced as he looked up to see her smile at him.

"Yes of course ! Thank you again." She said, grateful for what he had done. 

They stayed in a comfortable silence for a while, not knowing what to say. "Oh, Norma, I wanted to give you something." Alex blurred out, breaking the silence.

Norma looked at him questioningly, wondering what he was going to give her.

He put his hand in his shirt pocket. He took the pearl earring out and showed it to her. It was resting on his palm and Norma widened her eyes in surprise.

She only realized now that she only had one earring since yesterday, she felt so stupid for wearing a single pearl.

"When did you find it ?" She asked cheerfully. Relief flowed through her, she had been so scared about losing this gift from her friend.

"Yesterday after you left." He replied, looking at her softly.

She looked at him and bit her lip "Did you see... Like, everything yesterday ?" Norma asked worryingly.

He nodded and she rubbed her forehead with one hand.

She sighed "I'm sorry you had to see that." Norma said while looking around, avoiding his gaze. 

"I've seen worse don't worry." Alex said.

She chuckled and looked back at him.

Romero said quickly : "Do you still have the earring fastener ?"

Norma nodded and marched towards the office quickly. She came back right away with the small item and showed it to him.

"Here, let me help." He blurred out, getting closer to her. She handed him the earring fastener.

He put her earring back on her earlobe slowly and for a moment, she felt the warmth of his body against hers, but it was over too soon.

He stepped backwards and exclaimed "Done !" with a light smile.

It took her a moment to get back to her senses and said "Thanks." shyly, looking down at her feet and feeling her cheeks redden.

She looked up and got lost in his brown eyes. They stayed like that for a while, just looking at each other, until they both heard a car door slam shut.

They jumped, realizing that they may have stared at each other for a little too long.

Norma turned around and saw Cordelia walk towards her. Alex felt awkward and looked around, crossing his arms.

"Hi you !" Cordelia said, holding her suitcase in one hand. Norma got away from Alex and made her way towards her friend.

"Hey Delia." She said as she pulled her in a warm embrace.

"I missed you." The supreme said, melting into the hug.

They both pulled out and smiled widely at each other.

Norma had forgot that the sheriff was even here.

"You're wearing those earrings I gave you !" Cordelia added, her eyes lightening at the sight of her friend smiling at her.

Norma nodded and kissed Cordelia on the cheek sweetly.

The supreme looked in front of her and saw the sheriff looking utterly uncomfortable. "Who's that ?"

Cordelia asked curiously. "Why is there a policeman ?" She continued.

Norma turned around "Oh ! Um, that's sheriff Romero, he was just checking up on me."

Alex nodded and tried to let out a faint smile, miserably failing.

Norma walked back towards Alex, Cordelia followed behind and smiled politely at him.

"I'm Cordelia Goode." She held out her hand, inviting him to shake it.

"I think I'm gonna get going, bye Norma, and uh, nice to meet you."

He nodded at both women after shaking Cordelia's hand and made his way back to his vehicle.


	14. An unexpected turn of events

"It's nice to meet you Norman." Cordelia said stepping in the basement where Norman was sitting, cutting open a dead bird. 

Without turning around, the boy said "Nice to meet you Mrs. Goode."

The supreme looked at her friend worryingly.

"How did he discover taxidermy ?" She asked, whispering so he couldn't hear.

"His friend's dad owns a taxidermy shop and he lent him a book." Norma answered, looking at her youngest.

"Dylan, my oldest son doesn't really come home anymore, he's got a busy job apparently." She continued, whispering as well.

"What does he do ?" Cordelia asked, climbing up the stairs of the basement to go back upstairs. 

"Um, I don't know, yet." Norma replied flatly. Once they were in the living room, they both sat on the couch.

"I really feel like we haven't seen each other in such a long time, wow." The supreme blurred out, rubbing her forearm. She pulled up her sleeve and rubbed her arm. Norma widened her eyes when she saw a little scratch on her friend's arm.

"What happened ?" She asked while standing up quickly "Can I get you anything or ?" She continued.

"It's fine, just a little accident, don't be so dramatic." The supreme said, wanting to reassure her friend, she took Norma's hand and pulled her down to sit back on the couch.

They sat here comfortably, Cordelia was pulling down the hem of her own dress, which was black. She was wearing her hair down, with a gold necklace hugging her neck delicately, her shoes were black short boots, Norma hadn't wanted her to remove them when she stepped in the house, they were all supposed to take them off when they went upstairs.

"You can sleep in Dylan's room, he hasn't been back for a couple of days and he texted, telling me he wasn't going to come back in a week or so." Norma told her friend, who was staring absentmindedly at the bookshelf.

She turned her head and nodded "Okay great, thank you for letting me staying here."

"Sure, no problem." Norma answered, looking at Cordelia softly.

They didn't mind not talking, they both were tired from their day and it didn't feel awkward at all. Cordelia looked at Norma and held out a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her friend's ear slowly.

Norma let out a sigh and closed her eyes, feeling the supreme's fingers on her left ear. She opened her eyes and saw Cordelia look at her seriously. Without thinking, she got closer to her friend's face, they were now inches apart, they could feel each other's body warmth.

"This isn't a good idea." Norma whispered half heartedly. They stayed like this, face to face, until...

"Mother !?" Norman shouted from the basement. Both women jumped in surprise. Cordelia looked down, feeling disappointed.

Norma got up and left without a word, her friend watched her leave and took time to appreciate Norma's purple dress which hugged her curves perfectly.

"What is it Norman ?" Norma said climbing down the stairs, seeing her son, his hands covered in blood turning around slowly to look at her.

"Would you mind help me clean up ? I dropped the blood jar, I'm so clumsy." He said chuckling softly.

Norma looked at him and nodded, making her way towards the kitchen. Looking for a floor cloth.

After cleaning the mess and changing her clothes, Norma came back to the living room to see that her friend was still sitting on the couch, a book in her hands.

"Do you wanna hang out down in the village ?" She asked Cordelia who looked up and smiled, as if nothing had happened earlier.

"Of course." She smiled and put the book down on the coffee table.

"Where do you keep your grimoires ?" She continued while standing up.

"My room." Norma answered simply, marching towards the parlor.

The supreme nodded, grabbing her coat. Norma did the same and took her keys, opening the door slowly. Norma had to change her clothes after getting blood on them accidentally. She traded her purple dress for something simpler : a white flowery blouse and a knee length black skirt with dark blue heels, she had curled her hair quickly to make them look better.

She tucked a blonde lock behind her ear and closed the door behind her. Both women climbed down the stone stairs.

Norma saw the three people who were supposed to check in from afar.

"I'll be right back, just going to take care of the guests." Norma informed her friend. Cordelia was resting her back on the green Mercedes, watching Norma talk to three women in the office.

They had talked a lot in the car, about everything and anything.

It felt so good to have a friend. Norma didn't really know anyone in this town except Alex, she wasn't particularly fond of people in general but she was grateful for Cordelia's visit.

They both laughed and couldn't stop after the supreme had made a terrible joke. "Keep your eyes on the damn road Norma." She said, her tone playful.

They remained silent for a while and started laughing wildly again, consumed by each other. 

"Then stop distracting me !" Norma shot back, panting and trying to regain her breath.

Norma and Cordelia spent the rest of the afternoon at the village laughing, talking and just catching up. Norma had told her friend every single thing that had happened to in this town since they moved in : the murder of Keith Summers, Zack Shelby and his sex slave, Norma's arrest, the murder of Abernathy, the fact that the sheriff could blackmail her if he wanted to and that he saw her use her powers. "He saw, like everything ?" The supreme asked with wide eyes while taking a sip of her milkshake. Norma nodded and sighed. "I don't know, but i tried using Concilium on him twice and it never worked." Norma confessed, fiddling with her towel. 

Cordelia looked surprised after what her friend had said. "How ? How did it not work ? Norma you're really powerful, you know that right ?" The supreme blurred out, worried by the situation. 

Norma shrugged, feeling suddenly ashamed.

"But it's okay don't you worry !" Cordelia continued, seeing the slight frown of sadness on her friend's face.

They came home around 6 pm and Norma didn't want to bother cooking tonight. She told her friend and Norman that they would order pizza for dinner which seemed to annoy the boy, who liked his mom's cooking better.

The three of them had dinner peacefully and chatted until 11 pm. Since it was Saturday, they all thought it would be a good idea to play a movie but since Norma had to prepare for the city council's meeting tomorrow, she left her son and Cordelia in the living room alone to go upstairs. 

Norma thought it would be a good opportunity for them to get to know each other a little.

Once she stepped in her room, Norma let herself flop on the bed. After contemplating the ceiling, she sighed and turned her head on the side to look at the window.

The sky was dark and she saw light briefly before it disappeared, it was probably a car. She stood on the bed, grabbed her laptop and turned it on.

After 2 hours, the movie was over. Cordelia and Norman had watched the movie without talking to each other.

"That was really good." The supreme blurred out, rubbing her eyes. Norman stood up and took the remote in his hands, turned the TV off and looked at Cordelia awkwardly.

"Yes it was, it's one of my favorite movies, I'm going to go to bed now, good night." Norman replied politely and left the living room.

The supreme looked at the clock and grumpily stood up. She made her way to the stairs and climbed. She arrived in front of what was supposed to be Dylan's room. She grabbed the knob and opened the door, and saw that the bed linens had been freshly replaced. She looked around and thought that the room was simple, even though she was used to sleep in her fancy room at the academy.

She saw her suitcase in a corner and walked towards it. She opened it and took out her long white nightgown. Cordelia put it on and got out of Dylan's room, wanting to check up on her friend.

She walked quickly and saw a faint light through the gap between the door and the doorframe. She knocked and let herself in. She saw Norma, looking at her laptop busily.

"Hey, just wanted to say good night." The supreme said, making her friend look up and smile, she closed her laptop and slowly removed the blanket from her legs as she suddenly felt how warm her bedroom was, she had been preparing her meeting all this time and forgot to turn down the heater a bit.

"Phew, I didn't realize how hot it was." Norma said laughing playfully.

Cordelia smiled and let her eyes roam on her friend's pale legs, she was wearing a black satin chemise that showed some cleavage.

The supreme coughed and looked away before her friend could notice.

"Bye." She said flatly.

"Stay, I have something to ask you." Norma exclaimed as Cordelia was walking away. She turned around slowly and said : "About what ?" As she crossed her arms and furrowed one brow. 

"Magic." Norma answered. The supreme walked towards the bed and sat on it, swinging her legs on the sheets, looking at her friend.

"Sure, ask away." Cordelia said distractedly. She had something else on her mind and it had nothing to do with spells or powers.

"Well as you know I tried Concilium on the sheriff and it never worked, do you have any idea-" Norma started but got cut off as the supreme's lips crashed on hers.

Cordelia cupped Norma's cheek and took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. The supreme's hand slid down Norma's forearms and they both let out a moan, kissing fiercely. Cordelia rolled on top of Norma, hands roaming on her creamy thighs.

"I don't think we should do this." Norma panted half-heartedly.

"We can stop if you want." The supreme said as Norma's knees slowly rose on the bed. They looked at each other for a while and resumed making out.

Cordelia's fingers hooked under the hem of Norma's panties and tried to tug them down. 

Norma's eyes shot open and she stopped kissing Cordelia who was looking at her with lust filled eyes.

"I've never...had sex with a woman and I don't think I'm ready." Norma whispered shyly, dragging her fingers up and down the supreme's shoulder.

"It's okay." Cordelia said while smiling, pushing a gold curl behind Norma's ear. She let her fingertips graze Norma's collarbone as Norma writhed under her. She placed a soft kiss on her shoulder and rolled off the bed silently. "Night Norma." Cordelia blurred out as she walked away.

Norma was still breathing heavily, laying down on her bed and thinking of what could've happened if she hadn't told Cordelia that she had never had sex with a woman.

She sat up slowly, rubbed her forehead and sighed. Norma lifted up her chemise to examine her ugly scar.

Cordelia knew about this scar, she had wanted to explain it to the supreme, given how close they were. Norma knew everything about her friend and vice versa, they trusted each other with their lives and both women knew it but this time, something had definitely changed. They knew they weren't "just" friends anymore, there had been obvious attraction and Norma did not know how to handle it, especially with a woman. She wanted it, oh god she did but, she was intimidated by the idea of being in any kind of relationship after what had happened with Sam, she was scared she was going to make the same old mistakes.

Norma stood up and turned off the lights slowly. She gazed into the dark sky, the neon outside bathed her skin in a soft blue. She stayed still for a while, staring outside blankly before getting into bed, rolling on her side and closing her heavy eyelids.


	15. Decisions

Cordelia sat up on her bed and stretched out her arms.

She remembered what had happened last night with Norma, she knew this couldn't be undone and the supreme didn't want their friendship to be ruined because of last night's events, she was going to give Norma the space she needed.

The supreme looked at her watch and saw that it was 9:02 am. She got out of bed, walked towards the door and went to the bathroom

After making her way back, she slipped off her white nightgown, trading it for a burgundy blouse and a black knee length pencil skirt with dark blue heels.

She took out her golden necklace and tied it behind her neck. Dylan's room had a small mirror and it was enough for her.

While brushing her golden hair, Cordelia briefly remembered the time Norma only had to mostly wear black for a whole month when she was at the academy, she had been so bothered when the supreme told her on her first day that she had to lose the colorful flowery blouses, but she got eventually used to wearing black, she had even liked it at some point.

Cordelia smiled at the thought and went downstairs.

She saw Norma in her blue robe cooking breakfast and her youngest son seated at the table, drinking what must be hot chocolate.

"Morning." Cordelia said while stepping forward. Norma turned around to look at the supreme and smiled warmly.

"Here, sit, I'm making breakfast." She said cheerfully.

Cordelia furrowed her brow and smirked. Norma's smile faded and she turned back around, using a wooden spoon to mix the frying pan's contents.

Cordelia sat and Norman looked at her doubtfully. He had noticed the look the two women exchanged and it had more than intrigued him.

After they had all finished eating, Norman went to the motel office and the two women were left alone in the house.

As Cordelia was helping Norma with the dishes, she accidentally dropped a plate but used Telekinesis to keep it from shattering on the kitchen floor.

The supreme sighed and apologized "Shit, I'm sorry."

Norma looked at her "It's okay, it didn't break." She said reassuringly. "So I'm going to attend the city council meeting at 11 today, wanna come with me ?" Norma continued as she saw her friend wipe her wet hand on a towel.

"Sure." Cordelia replied, walking out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going ?" Norma asked while resting her hands on the counter.

"Oh you're not wearing that." She said, pointing at Norma's silk robe. "You need an outfit, I'll help you choose, let's go." The supreme replied, already climbing up the stairs.

Norma shook her head and smiled, following her friend upstairs.

What had happened last night seemed forgotten, Norma had been worrying a lot because of that for no reason, their friendship was strong and it wasn't going to be threatened because of a simple kiss. Well, maybe it had been way more than a simple peck, Norma thought as she stepped in her own room, seeing the supreme look through her open closet.

She grabbed a grey skirt and a matching vest with a white collar that looked utterly elegant. 

Norma was watching closely and crossed her arms, waiting for her friend to be done.

Cordelia took out beige heels and a simple blouse.

"What do you think ?" The supreme said as she put down the pieces of clothing on the bed.

"It is definitely what I would have chosen." Norma said with a smirk.

Cordelia smiled back and put both her hands on her hips. "Well, I'm gonna go." She blurred out, starting to walk towards the door.

"Stay, it's okay." Norma said, making the supreme freeze.

After a moment of silence, Norma continued "So you're coming with me to the meeting, right ?" 

She asked, seeing Cordelia's face relax.

"Yeah, if you don't mind." She said, sitting on the edge of the bed next to the clothes.

"Of course I don't mind !" Norma exclaimed, smiling widely. "There's this stupid bypass that's going to be built, it might really affect my business." She continued, walking slowly towards the bed, and looking down, frowning at the thought. "And i probably won't even be able to sell my property. I'm screwed." Norma was now standing in front of the bed, looking absently at her clothes.

"I'm sorry." Cordelia said, reaching out to touch her arm softly. "You know what we should do if they don't agree ?" She said playfully.

"What ?" Norma asked, becoming curious.

"Concilium, Norma. It's pretty easy and you know how well it works." The supreme suggested, looking up to see her friend still staring at the clothes.

"Not a good idea, I don't want to use magic for that." Norma replied, even though she didn't entirely hate the idea.

"Okay, put these on now." The supreme said, making Norma snap out of her trance.

She untied the knot of her blue satin robe, feeling Cordelia's eyes on her. The supreme turned around and blushed, pretending to be suddenly interested by what was happening outside. 

Norma opened her robe to reveal the black thigh length chemise she was wearing yesterday. She quickly took the skirt and put it on. She slipped off the satin robe and let it pool on the floor. She slipped off the chemise and started buttoning the simple white blouse.

The supreme's back was facing Norma who was tucking her blouse in the skirt. She slipped on the vest and buttoned it when she was done with the shirt under it.

"You can turn around." Norma said. The supreme turned around and took in her friend's appearance. She smiled looked at Norma fondly. "You look great."

She blushed and thanked Cordelia. She noticed that she was still barefoot and put on the heels. "What time is it ?" Norma asked the supreme who was still looking at her.

"It's 10:31 am, we should go." Cordelia answered quickly.

Norma sat in the room full of people next to the supreme. They were beginning to get bored at this meeting, people were talking about useless things and Cordelia wanted to get the hell out, but she had to be there for her friend. Norma sighed when a woman started ranting about the books the children had to read at school.

After the woman finished her speech, the councilman smiled and thanked her. "So, let's see who's on the agenda next." He started. "Norma Bates ?" The councilman called.

Norma stood up and waved her arm. "Yes, that's me." She said awkwardly.

"Did you know that the sheriff signed you up ?" The man asked while chuckling.

"Yes, he told me." Norma replied, not understanding what was so funny.

"I mean that's the sheriff we're talking about, he doesn't really talk to anyone, no one talks to him, so seeing him do something for someone else was kind of-" He continued.

"Do you mind if I actually talk now ? I didn't come here to discuss Sheriff Romero." Norma shot back, cutting him off.

The councilman looked utterly shocked and he nodded, his face becoming emotionless. 

Norma walked towards the stand and put her heavy folder on it. She started talking about how the bypass was going to basically erase her motel off the map, about how she probably wouldn't be able to sell her property and how there were going to be big ugly stores at the side of the road, the councilman looked so uninterested and when he finally talked, it was to shut her off. 

Everyone started standing up after the councilman said that the meeting was over. Norma looked around and widened her eyes, wondering how someone could be this disrespectful. 

"You're a dick." Norma blurred out, putting her mouth close to the microphone.

Right after saying that, everyone sat back and she heard Cordelia giggle lightly.

She turned around to look at her seriously and the supreme put her hand over her mouth and stopped laughing.

"Excuse me ?" The councilman said, offended. "Yes I just called you a dick because that's what you are."

Cordelia felt bad for Norma, she wanted to walk towards her friend, hug her and tell her that everything would be alright.

The supreme looked at Lee Berman and used Concilium, to convince him to stop building the bypass.

She focused hard and used her powers to make it work. While Norma was still ranting, the councilman's face suddenly softened and Cordelia knew it had worked.

Norma stopped talking after seeing the changes in the man's face. He was now smiling. She furrowed her brows.

"Mind if I ask what's so funny ?" Norma said, feeling irritated.

The councilman held out a hand and apologized.

"I'm sorry, you're right. This bypass is no good for our community, I'll see what we can do." The other councilmen looked at Lee Berman, their eyes full of confusion.

"Thank you Mrs. Bates." He continued. Norma furrowed her brow, grabbed her purse, her heavy files and walked towards the exit calmly. Everyone started standing up and leaving as well.

Norma waited for Cordelia outside. Once she saw her step out, she waved at the supreme who noticed her right away.

"It was you wasn't it ?" Norma said, looking disappointed once her friend was standing in front of her.

"You and I both know he wouldn't have done shit about the bypass." Cordelia shot back, still understanding why Norma seemed off.

"Well, you don't know ! I don't need magic and I don't need you to solve my own problems, when did I ask you to help me in there ?" Norma replied hastily, putting the strap of her bag on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry." The supreme said apologetically, regretting her previous actions.

"It's fine, guess you can't undo it." Norma added, looking down awkwardly.

Cordelia stepped forward to get closer to her friend. She held out her hand and caressed her friend's cheek with her thumb. Norma looked down, avoiding physical and eye contact.

"I'm gonna go, you can walk. Or use Transmutation, I don't care." Norma said after regaining her senses and walking away, leaving the supreme alone on the street.

As she walked towards her blue Mercedes, she heard someone call her name

"Norma !" She suddenly turned around and jumped in surprise, she saw the sheriff stepping forward, looking around briefly.

"You scared me ! You shouldn't sneak up on people like that !" Norma exclaimed while looking at him with wide eyes.

"I didn't know that walking was sneaking up on someone." He replied smugly, standing in front of her.

"How'd it go ?" He continued, engaging conversation.

Norma looked down and rubbed her forehead with her fingers. "Um, I guess I convinced this councilman to stop the bypass from being built ?" She answered, feeling unsure.

"That's great, I'm happy for you." He said, not wanting to sound too cheerful. Norma nodded and opened her car door, ready to get in. "Bye." Romero said. "Bye." She got in her car and drove away.


End file.
